Trade in the Periphery Portugal’s trade integration in the EU

This paper studies international trade in the case of Portugal as a small and peripheral economy in Europe and its trade integration with the European Union. The purpose of the paper is to find if Portugal’s EU accession in 1986 increased trade with EU members. Common for research on trade effects of EU integration is that ascending countries see significant increases in trade. Theory also suggest that countries should experience removal of trade barriers following accession to the EU. As is also common for these studies, the paper uses gravity models of international trade for measuring trade flows between Portugal and the EU. Specifically, Portuguese exports to ten EU countries are collected for the years 1983 to 1991. Then OLS estimations are made with the use of gravity models to assess EU accessions impact on Portugal’s trade. The paper finds no empirical support for the hypothesis that EU accession increased Portuguese exports to the EU countries. (Less)